Nighttime Truth
by Mavennica
Summary: Truth most often comes out of darkness. Rated M, sort of lemony, kind of dark.
1. Chapter 1

"Lily…"

Hermione's eyes snapped open. She looked over at her bed partner and saw that Severus was in the throes of another dream. His cock was high and hard, tenting the blankets, and he was gently thrusting against them. He turned on his side facing her, binding his blankets around him tightly. Hermione could see that her sleeping husband was using them for resistance. She watched in macabre fascination as her husband dreamed about fucking his lost love.

"Oh Lily, yes, unnnhhhh…."

He thrust faster and harder, the roughness of the blanket inflaming his ardor. When his thrusts lost their rhythm and he began to pant and whine, straining for release, Hermione sighed dejectedly and cupped the head of his covered cock, placing her thumb on the underside where the tip met the shaft. She knew his trips and triggers after all this time, so she applied just the right amount of pressure.

"Liiilllyyy…."

He stiffened and came, his cock pulsing in Hermione's hand. She withdrew when he stopped spurting and watched the moisture of his release seep up through the blankets.

Severus woke up spewing hot, sticky liquid, and he couldn't move as the sinful pleasure rocketed through him, locking him into position. Sensations radiated out from his tightened sac, and he lay there stunned as his anal muscles trembled and pulsed in time to his spurts.

His body was suddenly released from its seizing rapture, and he felt like he melted into the bed as his muscles relaxed all at once. Severus felt his release moistening the sheets and marveled at it; he had no idea what he had been dreaming, but he hadn't soiled his bed like that in decades.

He moved to get his wand and clean up when he noticed Hermione quietly staring at him. Ashamed that she had witnessed his wet dream, Severus cast a quick cleansing charm and turned on his wife.

"It's called a 'nocturnal emission,' Hermione," he sneered at her. A cruel snarl marred his features. "I imagine Potter and Weasley messed in their sleeping bags more than once with you in the tent."

Hermione gasped. She was already vulnerable and hurt from having to watch Severus's erotic dream about Lily, so his barb regarding her and the boys' stressful time in the tent hunting horcruxes met no resistance and struck home.

She clenched her jaw and went for her wand, but she was no match for the man who had been Voldemort's best Death Eater. He disarmed her, but she twisted around and bit his wand hand hard; his ebony stiletto clattered harmlessly to the floor as he focused on trying to disengage his wife's gnashing teeth. Both wands fell to the floor, forgotten, as they struggled on the bed.

"Release me at once, you little animal!" Severus snarled. The pain was penetrating the fog of his shame. "Hermione, let go!"

Her eyes flashed up to her husband's and took in the grimace of his features. It reminded her of how his face had crumpled when he had come moaning Lily's name, so she bit down harder, reveling in the taste of his blood as it spurted into her mouth.

As a last resort, Severus drew back his other hand. The motion itself sickened him after years of watching his father hit his mother, but he had to make Hermione let go.

She felt his movement, and when she saw is other hand draw back she growled and released him. Hermione leaped from his grasp to the end of the bed, snarling with a mouthful of blood-stained teeth.

"Would you have really struck me, Severus?" she hissed, her eyes flashing with madness; something inside her had broken. "Would you have beaten me for the crime of not being Lily Evans?"

Severus stopped in the middle of wrapping an emptied pillowcase around his wound. He was floored; what on earth did Lily Evans have to do with this?

"Do you honestly think this is the first time you've dreamed of fucking her?" Hermione asked, rage flooding through her so much it crackled in her hair. "Do you know how many times I've finished you off when you dream of her? How many times I've thumbed your dick so you can hose down the bed and go back to sleep? Dozens, Severus. _Dozens!_" Her last word was uttered as a scream; pink-tinged spittle flew everywhere, and she launched herself at him.

Though Severus had been Voldemort's best Death Eater, even he was unprepared for the intensity of Hermione's assault. She slapped him, punched him, bit him, swore at him, called him things that were so inventive he filed them away for his own later use (though not at her).

She landed a few good punches and bites before Severus got control of the situation. He spun her away from him, locked her thighs and ankles between his, pinned both arms behind her with one hand and grabbed her hair with the other, revealing her neck. She made to wiggle free, but his hand in her hair was unwavering, and she hissed when pain seared her scalp.

Severus leaned down to her ear. "Hermione," he murmured in his softest purr, "stop." He spoke softly into her ear but held her tightly, careful not to let her hurt herself in her rage. "Easy, Hermione, easy."

Ten minutes later Hermione stopped struggling, her madness spent. Exhausted, she slumped back against her husband's strong chest and burst into tears. Heaving, wracking sobs tore through her, and her entire body shook with the strain.

Severus held her until she quieted down, and he was about to release her when she began a whispered chant. He listed closely, wary of a wandless spell, but he only heard her utter the same phrase over and over: "I'm sorry I'm not Lily."

His fury at his young wife instantly died. He had no idea he had been having these dreams of Lily, no idea how long he'd been dreaming of her, and no idea how many times Hermione had watched him dream-fuck her.

He steeled his resolved. He was about to find out.

Hermione awoke in a strange chair. It was soft and plushy, and it supported her back just right. She moved her leg a bit, and the chair moved along with her, cradling her limb. She moved all over, testing the chair, and every time it conformed to her every curve and bump. Fascinated, she tried getting up to have a look at its mechanics, but the chair held her down. She couldn't get up. Panic began to set in as the chair's comfort transformed into entrapment.

A hand on her shoulder stilled her movements. Severus came around and knelt before her, his face revealing nothing. "You are stuck here, Hermione, until you tell me what I want to know."

She licked her lips in fear, her mouth suddenly dry. "I'll tell you anything you want."

A rueful grin played across his features. "I don't think you'll find it so easy to tell me what I want to know." He stood up and paced back and forth in front of her. "Tell me, Hermione. Why do you hate Lily Evans so much?"

Her mouth snapped shut. She had not known what to expect, but it certainly hadn't been this. She wasn't sure how to proceed; Lily was a sacred cow to him, so she had to tread carefully where she was concerned. "What do you mean, Severus?"

He shook his head. "Ah, ah, ah, Hermione. No answering a question with a question. That's a Slytherin prerogative." He paced back and forth a few minutes more. "I will ask you again, Hermione. Why do you hate Lily Evans so much?"

"Why do you want to know?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

Severus eyed her for a moment. "Why do you think I want to know?"

Hermione looked down, defeated. She whispered something intelligible and sniffed.

Severus knelt in front of her. He put his hand under her chin and raised her face so he could look in her eyes. "I didn't hear you."

"I said, um, I-I said..." She closed her eyes as fresh tears poured down her face.

This was too brutal; he wanted information, not to emotionally torture her. He obviously wasn't going to get anywhere this way, so he resorted to his back-up plan. He walked behind the chair to a cabinet and brought out a vial. He unstoppered it, added three drops from another vial, and shook it a bit.

By this time Hermione was openly sobbing. She had no idea how she had lost her footing with Severus regarding Lily Evans, but lost it she had, and badly. She was grateful when Severus offered her a small bottle marked "Calming Draught," and so desperate was she for a moment's peace that she downed the whole thing in one gulp.

A sense of peace descended upon her. Everything would be fine. Things would work out in the end; things had a way of doing so. She sighed with relief.

"Is that better, Hermione?"

"Yes, but it tasted awful." She clamped a hand over mouth, and her eyes went wide when she realized it was not just a Calming Draught she'd taken. "Damn you."

Severus smirked. "I've been damned for so long that one more won't matter." He grabbed a stool and sat in front of Hermione's chair. "Now," he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat and flashing his crooked yellow teeth, "we will get some answers."

Hermione drew away from him in fear. The Veritaserum would loosen her tongue, and she had no idea how he would react. She briefly wondered if she would be homeless by dawn.

"I will ask you one last time, my wife," he said, standing to loom over her. "Why do you hate Lily Evans so much?"

Hermione felt like she would vomit. She tried to close her mouth, to not speak at all, but the potion's compulsion was strong, and she was so very tired. "I hate her because you love her instead of me."

He had suspected something like this. He sat back down on the stool and folded his arms. "Why do you think I love her instead of you?"

The Calming Draught was taking a firmer hold, and Hermione relaxed back into her chair. "You dream about her all the time, Severus. Erotic dreams, the kind which make you come in your sleep."

"And how many times have I had these erotic dreams?"

She was safer now; she was in the realm of numbers. Numbers were good allies; they never lied. "You have dreamed of her sixty-four times in the last six months."

Severus was stunned. He would have remembered that many wet dreams. "Why have you not said anything before now?"

She smiled a dreamy little smile. "You've never woken up before now. I always let you sleep through it before because when I helped you come, I felt that at least a little part of me was in your dreams."

It took a moment for Severus to assimilate this information. Hermione obviously believed that she had had to witness many "incidents." His own wife, the one person with whom he felt he could share anything, didn't think he loved her. How could her perspective be so off? Had her soul reattachment somehow gone wrong?

He gazed down at his Dark Mark, and a terrible idea began to form. "Hermione?"

"Yes, Severus?" she answered, gazing at him with adoration.

"When you were in the darkness, were you alone?" He held his breath in anticipation.

"No."

Damn. "Who was there with you? What did he look like?"

"He said he was a friend, but he had funny eyes and a flat face."

Double damn. Severus leaned forward. "Be more specific, please."

Hermione smiled. "He said he was a friend of yours, and that Lily Evans's son had hurt him."

Triple damn. Severus held his head in his hands and groaned. He now knew why Hermione hated Lily so much. Voldemort had somehow reached her while she was in the darkness.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Severus?"

"I want you to think back to this evening, when you woke me up from my dream."

Her brow furrowed. "I don't want to."

Severus took her hands and held them between his. "Please, Hermione. Do it for me."

She nodded, sighing in apprehension.

"I want you play the memory exactly as it happened, alright?"

She nodded again.

Severus raised his wand. "_Legilimens!_"


	2. Chapter 2

Severus was pulled into Hermione's memories. He saw flashes of earlier in the evening, rapid images and emotions connected to his "incident," but when he tried to zero in on a particular moment, the mundane tasks of her daily life as a Ministry researcher blossomed into his vision.

"I said to concentrate on my dream, Hermione," he grumbled, irritated that she was unable to follow such a simple instruction. He was worried about her, and his patience was wearing thin. "I don't care what you ate for lunch today."

"I can't help it! Your meatloaf sandwiches are terrible." She silently cursed whoever invented Veritaserum and fervently hoped he or she burned in the deepest pit of hell.

He sighed, the last of his patience gone. He was irritated at himself for not knowing what was wrong with her, and in his ire he snapped at her. "Fuck the meatloaf and focus on the damn dream!"

A sneer bloomed on her face, calculating and deadly. "Why, Severus, so you can pull the memory and drop it in a Pensieve?" She leaned forward as far as the chair would allow. "Would you like to see all the times you've sleep-fucked a dead girl and blasted the sheets?"

Severus was shocked. In all the time he had known Hermione, from the moment she waved her hand in his class to when she replaced her last name with his, he had never heard her speak such filth.

"Hermione," he murmured, his brow furrowed in confusion, "what's wrong with you?"

She sat back and looked up at him, dried tears marring her cheeks. "I don't know." Hermione sniffed and stared down at her lap. "I'm sorry I insulted Lily." She looked back up at him, her light brown eyes wide and begging. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "Please don't make me leave, Severus, please. I'll do better, I promise."

He pinched the bridge of his crooked nose and sighed. This was getting him nowhere. Either Hermione's soul reattachment had gone wrong, or she was under the effects of something. It had been over ten years since he had pulled her out of the darkness and reversed his vampirism, so any problems regarding that would have surfaced long ago. Severus was forced to conclude that his wife was under the effects of something concerning Voldemort, but what?

Severus quickly ran through his mental arsenal. He had refined many of his abilities as a Death Eater, and he wasn't above using one or two if the situation called for it. Severus wasn't sure how well Hermione would take being indirectly helped by Voldemort's allies, but his Gryffindor wife would just have to deal with it.

Severus released the chair's hold on Hermione and helped her stand. Without a word, he undressed her, sat down where she had been and pulled her naked form onto his lap. He smoothed her bushy hair away from her face and looked into her eyes.

He touched the tip of his wand to the cleft of her sex and whispered, "Legilimens Euphoria."

It was Dark Magic, but his Slytherin heart felt that the ends justified the means. Besides, it was always better to ask forgiveness rather than permission, even if you never received it.

Always.

~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~

Severus held his wand to Hermione's heat, its glowing tip pouring magic into her core. She writhed and moaned; the sensation was like nothing she had ever felt before. Her clit was so engorged over half of it peeked out from its hood, and the vestigial glands surrounding her urethra pulsed causing her to leak a steady stream of honey. Hermione was on the razor's edge of a massive orgasm, and she involuntarily bucked her hips, the pleasure almost too much to bear.

Severus pushed her to the limit and beyond, holding the spell so long that Hermione's entrance opened of its own accord and begged to be filled. Her muscles and tissues strained against his magic, and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Severus, for Merlin's sake, please." she stuttered, her whole body trembling. "It hurts…"

He leaned in, their noses almost touching. "Let me penetrate your mind, Hermione," he purred, his enchanted voice adding to her tortured pleasure. "Let me in, and I'll make it all better." He flicked his wand.

Hermione came violently, screaming as jets of honey squirted from her heat. Every wall in her mind collapsed, and Severus easily drifted into the deepest recesses of her awareness. He quickly rifled through her childhood discovery of magic, her teenage shame as she touched herself to thoughts of her Potions Professor (he raised an eyebrow and filed that memory away for later discussion), and her adult cynicism when she took his last name because she loved him but gave the appearance it was only to save his life for The Cause. He slowed his pace as he came to what he wanted—her memory of his wet dream.

It was as he suspected; a layer of dark energy was superimposed over the actual memory. Hermione was "remembering" what the dark energy told her to remember: her husband having an erotic dream about a lost love.

Severus banished the dark energy from her mind, and what he saw was startling.

~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~

_Hermione's eyes snapped open. She had heard a muffled sound; months of being hunted while searching for Horcruxes had left her nervous regarding strange noises in the dark, and the passing years had not dulled the edge of her anxiety. _

_A sharp pain shot through the left side of her chest. She sat up to grab her wand, but she froze when she reached out her left arm. A black inky substance had seeped through her nightshirt, and the fluid was oozing down to her left forearm._

_Droplets of inky darkness dripped out of her nose onto her shirt. Her eyes began to sting as black tears ran down her cheeks. Panicking, she reached over for Severus._

"_Hermione…"_

_Droplets of ink floated away from her nose and hung suspended in midair. She watched in fascinated horror as the mass grew to the size of her fist and then slammed into Severus's Dark Mark. His cock hardened and tented the blankets; he began to thrust against them in his sleep._

"_Oh Hermione, yes, unnnhhhh…."_

_Just as Severus was about to come, the darkness moved from his Mark to the top of his blankets, but Hermione reached over and cupped his length, protecting him. She brushed against the underside of his cock, and Severus came in his sleep. _

"_Herrrmmiionnnneeee…"_

_She kept her hand in place until the inky substance slunk away to the end of the bed. She felt a slight tickle, and when she looked down at her chest, the inky sludge had vanished.  
_

~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~SSHG~

So he hadn't been having nocturnal emissions concerning Lily. Severus felt vaguely smug. He mentally shook himself and started thinking. What had he learned from her memory?

Many wizards could manifest Death Energy, but there was only one who could manifest Death Energy and bend it to his will: Voldemort.

Voldemort had manifested Death Energy and fed it to his followers. His acolytes had partaken of his Death Energy, their souls breathing life into the tainted sigils that formed on the undersides of their left forearms. His followers brandished their profane emblems and called themselves "Death Eaters," a depraved cabal of unholy knights that had descended into madness and nearly destroyed the world.

Severus's face fell in dawning horror, and he felt sick. Dear Merlin, how had he been so fucking stupid? Voldemort hadn't been able to manifest Death Energy until he had sundered his soul into Horcruxes.

Hermione's soul had nearly been split in two when Severus reattached it.

He had to find the source, the instant where Hermione had manifested Death Energy of her own. If he wasn't able to help her, his beloved wife was on a one-way trip to the Janus Thickey Ward.

If she was able to control it, he would have to kill her.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione's head snapped up, thick black fluid running from her nostrils and ears. She moved with an unnatural speed and straddled Severus, pinning him into the chair.

"You wish to see me dead, sorcerer?"

Severus shook his head. "I dearly wish to see you cured, Hermione, but I will eliminate you if necessary."

An evil laugh, bitter and brittle, gurgled up from her throat. "I am as you made me, Severus. It's only fitting that the creator destroys the creation."

"I take full responsibility for your reattachment having gone wrong. Perhaps if I had studied a bit more—"

Hermione shrieked with rage. "The seed was planted long before then, Severus Snape!" Black liquid flew from Hermione's lips and formed manacles, binding Severus to the chair. Hermione stood and moved back a step. Darkness was again leaking from her chest down to the underside of her left forearm.

An unholy zephyr played through Hermione's hair. She tilted her head and spoke, her voice deepened and doubled. "Would you like to see the moment you destroyed the one whom you lusted after in the hidden depths of your soul even as you imparted to her the subtle art of Potions?"

Severus inflated with disgust and righteous indignation. "I never lusted after a student!"

Hermione leaned over him, her arms on either side of his head, and whispered into his ear. "You lie." She licked his ear, and a drop of dark liquid found its way inside. She leaned back and smiled.

"Now, dearest Severus, you and I shall witness the moment you planted the seed of hate and cruelty inside this woman's lovely heart."

Darkness began closing around Severus's mind. Before it consumed him, he had the presence of mind to ask, "Hermione, who are you?"

Hermione smiled sadly, black tears running down her face. She softly stroked his hair as he fell into a dream. "I'm your wife."

_**Fourteen Years Ago**_

The Great Hall was abuzz with the sound of excited students. Dumbledore had summoned them all, saying that it was of utmost importance that everyone be ready; for what, he didn't say.

The voices were nearly thunderous when Dumbledore performed a Sonorus charm and cleared his throat. Silence fell as everyone covered their ears against the rough sound.

"There we are, very good. Now that I have your attention," he beamed, seemingly unaware of the pain his auditory burst caused, "I have an announcement. As you all know, the situation between the Light and the Dark is coming to a head."

He paused, but the room was silent. The Slytherins, whose numbers had been greatly thinned when Death Eaters pulled their children out of Hogwarts after Snape's cover was blown, fidgeted nervously.

"But," he began again, "not all hope is lost. Professor Snape?" All eyes turned to the entrance of the Great Hall.

Professor Snape strolled in, levitating a large drape-covered object behind him. He stopped at the front of the tables and glanced at the Headmaster. "You'd better know what you're doing, Albus," he growled.

The bearded man smiled. "I always know what I'm doing, Severus, except for when I don't."

The Potions Master rolled his eyes in disgust and took his seat.

Dumbledore took out his wand and pointed it at the covered object. He moved his hands in a complex pattern and intoned:

"_Ego precor Pectus pectoris ut Pectus pectoris. Ostendo quisque suum perficio secui."_

Blue light shot out of the Headmaster's wand, destroying the drape and infusing the object it covered with a ghostly sheen.

Murmurs of surprise and wonder erupted in the room. Dumbledore nodded and spoke again, his voice still amplified. "Yes, you are correct. This is the Mirror of Erised, but today it performs a different function." He looked about the room. "Can anyone tell me what that is?"

Snape swore under his breath when Hermione's hand shot up in the air.

Dumbledore shot a sideways glance at Snape and grinned. He turned around and held out his hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

Hermione stood up, trembling with excitement. "You have invoked the 'Heart to Heart' function of the mirror, Headmaster. The incantation translates as 'I invoke the Heart to Heart. Show each one their perfect part.'" Ron snorted, and she smacked him so hard on the head his face landed in his potatoes; Snape hid a nasty grin behind his napkin. "I read about it in 'Hogwarts: A History.'"

"Very good, Miss Granger, you may sit down."

Hermione took her seat. She was so excited at receiving public (public, dear Merlin, public!) praise from the Headmaster that she didn't notice the murmuring of other students who knew something of the ancient spell.

The Headmaster addressed the rest of the students. "Miss Granger is correct. The 'Heart to Heart' charm is a very old protective spell. It binds two hearts together for the reasons of protection. It instills a magic between two people so that both people must be killed at once in order to kill both of them. For example," he said as he strolled down between the student tables, "If one of you were bound to another by the 'Heart to Heart' charm, and you were killed, the other would always have the power to resurrect you."

Dumbledore looked around the room into eyes filled with amazement. "The charm only works once between you," he explained as he walked back to the front of the Great Hall, "and you can choose the level of bonding." He sat back down.

Professor Snape arose as the Headmaster sat. He walked down to the Mirror. "The three levels are 'Friend,' 'Family,' and 'Foundation.' You will each walk up to the Mirror and gaze within; the person you see is the person most in tune with your magical signature and thus the best partner."

A list appeared in midair in front of Snape. "When I call your name, you will come here, gaze into the mirror, and tell me who appears. That person will then come up here so the two of you may discuss a bonding level." He sneered. "You are all underage, so the 'Foundation' level will be unavailable to you since the Ministry regards a 'Foundation' bond as a legal marriage. Lower your hand, Miss Granger, I have no wish to hear what 'Hogwarts: A History' says about it."

Hermione lowered her hand and bit her lip; she was of age due to her use of the Time Turner. "Professor, please, it's important!"

"Enough!" Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously. Hermione bit her lip harder but remained quiet.

Shooting her a hateful smirk, the Potions Master returned to the floating list. "Everard, Edmund!"

A young Ravenclaw, no more than twelve, walked up to the Mirror. "Excuse me, Professor, but…"

Snape pulled up to his full height, outwardly sneering and inwardly grinning at how the child turned white with fear. "Yes, Mister Everard?" He raised an eyebrow.

The poor child began to shake. "…um, well, um…"

"Well spit it out!"

Everard squeaked and blurted out, "I don't come first alphabetically!"

Snape's mouth was a flat line. "Did I say the list was alphabetical?" he drawled, emphasizing each syllable.

The boy shook his head. "No sir," he whispered.

"Then shut up and look in the damn mirror!"

Everard jumped and nearly fell, but when his gaze fell to the Mirror he froze. His face was suffused with light, and the Mirror sparkled beautifully. All fear was forgotten as he looked upon his Heart.

"Whom do you see, Mr. Everard?"

"I see Elliott Spooner." A boy, a fellow Ravenclaw, got up from the table and joined Everard in looking at the Mirror.

Snape summoned a Self-Inking Quill and scribbled on the floating list. "Your level, if you please."

"We're family," the boys said dreamily. A band of light connected their chests, and the contents of their hearts were copied upon one another.

Snape scribbled on the floating list again and nodded. "Fine; both of you may go." He absently waved them away.

It went that way for student after student until finally Snape called out, "Miss Granger." Nervously, Hermione rose up from her seat and approached the Mirror.

She glanced at her Potions Professor. He was scribbling on his ever-growing list and not paying attention to her; perhaps she could quickly peek in the mirror without him seeing that all three options were open to her.

"Why the sudden shyness, Miss Granger? You're usually so eager to show off in my class." He turned and raised an eyebrow at her. "Performance anxiety, perhaps?" He smirked and leaned in. "Perhaps the 'Gryffindor Princess' is still merely a cub without any claws."

"Fine," she said, gritting her teeth as her anger overtook her fear. "Just remember that you asked for it, Professor."

"In…deed," Snape purred.

She gave him one last dirty look before stepping up to the mirror.

At first, nothing happened. Hermione was simply staring at herself. She was about to leave when the Mirror exploded in color. Every hue of the rainbow flashed and danced; sparks of light spilled out into the Great Hall, setting small fires where they landed. Teachers scattered to put out the flames.

Snape yelled out, "Whom do you see?"

Hermione was unable to answer; she was too absorbed by the Mirror. The colors which had been blasted forth earlier now coalesced into the glass, swirling into one another until they began to lose cohesion and blend into one color: a vibrant, swirling black. The picture cleared, and Hermione's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Miss Granger," the Potions Professor shouted, "whom do you see?"

Hermione turned to him with dazed eyes. "I see only you."

Snape was stunned. "Miss Granger, that's impossible. You'd have to be—"

"An adult, Professor! That's what I was trying to tell you earlier!" She held her arms out helplessly. "You wouldn't listen to me!"

"Yes, the 'know-it-all' knows it all, it seems," he said spitefully. "So tell me, Miss Granger," he said while raising his quill, "to what level of hell am I to be sentenced?"

It never dawned on her to be suspicious. It never occurred to her to ask why he was being so accommodating. She never thought to wonder why he didn't fight it.

"Voldemort will be out for you. He will hunt you down and kill you as surely as I'm standing here. We can't have that; even though you've been discovered, you are still too valuable to the Cause." She smiled at him sadly. "Foundation it is, then."

A tendril of light shot out of the Mirror and enveloped both of them. Hermione's heart was copied onto his, and Snape was shocked beyond words to feel her love for him.

When his heart was copied over hers, something went wrong. A piece of Snape's heart wouldn't copy over.

Hermione cried out, clutching at her left breast. Pain radiated down her left arm and up into her jaw. She couldn't breathe, and it felt like a hippogriff was on her chest. She slumped to the floor, and just before she passed out, she groaned, so low that no one heard her. "Lily."

Severus awoke in the chair. He felt stiff, and his joints ached. He tried to move to relieve the tension, and he was pleased to note his chains were gone.

Hermione was asleep on the floor, curled around his feet. She stirred when he pulled her up onto his lap, and she rested her head against his chest.

She sniffled. "All I wanted was to love you, Severus, but you never let me. I had to use the Dementor spell to bring you back because I knew you hadn't given me all of your heart. A piece still belonged to Lily, and it always will." She began to sob. "I'm so sorry I'm not her, Severus. I'm so sorry I'm just me."

He caressed her curls. He had to do something, or she was going to break.

"Hermione, listen to my heart. Relax and feel its rhythm."

She stilled a moment. Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub went the beat. She could almost feel it through his chest.

"Yes, that's it. Feel how strongly it beats, how forcefully it pumps?"

She nodded against his him.

"It beats for you, Hermione, and you alone."

He picked her nude form up and carried her to their bed. He quickly stripped and stretched out beside her, careful to keep her close to his chest so she could feel his heart. He stroked down her back and up her side.

He rolled her until she was atop him. His long arms caressed her back and the swell of her bottom in long, easy strokes. "Feel my heart, Hermione. Listen to how it thumps. Notice how it speeds up when I touch the sides of your lovely breasts."

He sat up and put her on top of his outstretched legs. "Put your hand on my cock, Hermione. Feel my pulse at the base." She gulped. "Feel how thick and hard you make me."

He sat back and opened his arms. "I belong to no one else, dead or alive. I am yours, Hermione." His dark eyes were blazing. "Do with me what you will."

She hesitated.

"What do you want to do, Hermione? Take control, do to me what you wish." His eyes were practically on fire. "I promise I'll enjoy it."

Hermione hesitantly crawled forward. She straddled his hard length and then sank herself upon it.

Severus gave a guttural wheeze. "Fuuuuck…"

"I have AL-ways WAN-ted to DO this to YOU," she moaned, her syllables coming out loudly on her down-stroke. "EV-en in PO-tions CLASS I've WAN-ted YOU so MUCH."

He sat up and enveloped her in his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. "I'm here now, Hermione. I'm here with you. I'm here holding onto you for dear life. Rage against me with your body, purge yourself, give me all your pain." He bit her ear and whispered, "Fuck me with all you have, little girl."

Hermione cried out. She slammed her pelvis down onto his over and over, her honey seeping out bit by bit as she neared her peak. Just before she went over the edge, Severus whispered an incantation and completed the copying process of his heart onto hers.

The result was instantaneous. A concussion wave blasted through their room, and the black energy weeping from her body turned a brilliant white. Hermione screamed, and her core poured out molten light. Wave after wave of energy emanated from the young witch, and Severus held his beloved wife tightly as he spilled into her.

"I am your husband, Hermione. I will love you forever."

"Forever," she breathlessly agreed.

_Forever_, echoed the seed of light they had just planted.

_Fin._


End file.
